Chapter 213
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 213
Chapter Title: Liana Lumenhark (3)
"Hehe♪ Eugene's always so much fun."
Liana Lumenhark hummed a little tune.
In her hand was a black-haired doll that resembled someone she knew.
Of course she'd anticipated Eugene striking back.
She'd openly announced the time and place of her speech— it would have been weirder if he hadn't.
But no matter what kind of speech Eugene brought to the table, she'd prepared thoroughly enough to crush him completely.
"I wondered what you'd do... but I never imagined you'd smash the stage itself♪"
Yet Eugene's response had exceeded even her expectations.
To realize he couldn't win on stage and demolish the stage outright...
Eugene really was a man who knew how to entertain her.
Liana never would have thought of such a crude, brute-force countermeasure.
She always won in a straight-up fight, so there was no need for her to resort to tricks.
...Which was exactly why Liana could never beat someone stronger than her.
She'd never lost so far simply because no one was stronger than her.
But Eugene was different.
He'd admitted he was the weaker one, yet thrashed around relentlessly until he'd wrested victory from her grasp.
"Eugene~ What should we play next? Hehe♪"
Liana poked the doll's cheeks with a smile, but suddenly her expression hardened.
"...Ahh, I was in such a good mood. You always show up at times like this."
She rose from her seat and stood before the mirror.
"Come out."
At her words, the mirror rippled, and "Twisted Desire"—wrapped head to toe in bandages—emerged.
[...Your Highness the Princess.]
Hearing the title from "Twisted Desire," Liana relaxed her stiff expression and let out a smirk.
"Look at you, calling me properly after getting scolded once. Do I need to discipline you to make it stick?"
"Twisted Desire" ground its teeth at her taunt.
[...Don't provoke me too much. I'm barely holding back as it is.]
"Oh? I'm curious what happens if you don't. Why don't you give it a try?"
With that, Liana and "Twisted Desire" glared at each other— but in the end, it was "Twisted Desire" that looked away first.
[...I didn't come to trade barbs. How long do you plan to keep playing around? Everything's ready on my end.]
Its eyes flashed from between the bandages.
In truth, the Carnea uprising wouldn't have much impact on the Empire.
The balance simply didn't allow it.
Commoners made up less than 30% of Carnea's student body.
And numbers weren't the only issue.
Barring a few exceptions, most commoner students were clustered in Classes 4 and 5.
In the end, they lacked both numbers and power compared to the nobles.
...At best, it'll be quelled completely within a day.
"Twisted Desire" knew this full well, yet it pushed for the Carnea uprising anyway. The reason was simple.
It needed one day when Carnea's defenses weren't functioning.
[If there's no uprising at Carnea, I can't come fetch you.]
"Twisted Desire's" power lived up to its name: it warped space itself.
A highly useful ability in combat, but its true value lay in ignoring distance constraints.
If wielded properly, it could traverse the Empire from end to end in an instant.
However, even "Twisted Desire's" power had limits.
Teleporting an ordinary human might take no more than a twitch of a finger, but someone with Liana's immense power required tremendous focus and time.
If "Twisted Desire" tried to warp her out from within Carnea's grounds...
Carnea's people would surely notice and interfere.
...And in that focused state, I'd be defenseless.
In the end, for "Twisted Desire" to extract Liana...
It had to create a situation where Carnea couldn't respond, even if they detected the intrusion.
This was the true purpose behind inciting the Carnea uprising.
"Impatient men aren't popular, you know~. Then again, just looking at that bandage-wrapped face tells me you're not."
Liana wagged her index finger side to side.
"Twisted Desire's" voice came out low and cracked.
[...I call you Your Highness out of respect. Can't you show me the bare minimum in return?]
"I do respect you. If I didn't, do you think someone of your caliber could even converse with me?"
[Princess...!!]
As "Twisted Desire" shouted, cracks spiderwebbed across the mirror like fractured glass. Liana didn't so much as blink, her voice ice-cold.
"...Not much longer. Just wait."
[My patience is running out. Give me an exact date.]
"Sigh... always rushing me. You're such a joyless man."
[No more nonsense!! The exact date—]
"Two days from now. Noon. That's when the uprising starts."
Liana sighed.
She'd wanted to play with Eugene a bit longer, but it seemed time to wrap things up.
...What a shame.
Eugene had held his own against her surprisingly well up to now.
More commoners had supported him over her than expected.
...But two days from now,
The uprising was inevitable.
The support Eugene had siphoned off wasn't nearly enough to stop it.
"Make sure you arrive on time. I hate waiting."
Her words were more command than request, but "Twisted Desire" said nothing in response. Beneath the bandages, its lips twisted into a smirk.
...Two days.
Two days was still within tolerable limits.
The rebel forces, hidden across the Empire, had already gathered in one place via "Twisted Desire's" power.
But for now, they were merely assembled— not united.
To truly begin operations, they needed "Liana Lumenhark," a direct descendant of the imperial bloodline.
It was paradoxical that rebels dreaming of nobility's downfall craved Liana at their apex, but imperial blood was that special.
Her mere presence lent them legitimacy.
Of course, once the rebellion succeeded, they planned to use her as a puppet to rule the Empire...
Fools... Do they really think they can control her?
Meeting Liana's gaze, "Twisted Desire" barely suppressed a shudder.
It couldn't comprehend how a human could harbor such power.
Liana Lumenhark's strength transcended explanations of effort or talent.
They'd bound her with a pact like a collar, yet even now, just looking at her sent chills down its spine.
It's like gazing upon Him...
"Twisted Desire" shook its head fiercely at the fleeting thought.
Foolish to compare the princess—even a monstrous one—to Him.
If Liana was a calamity, its master was the devourer of calamities.
[...In two days, I'll come for you.]
With those final words, "Twisted Desire" vanished from the mirror.
"...Ahh~, there goes my good mood."
Liana flopped back onto the bed, stretching the doll's cheeks as she grumbled.
"Couldn't they let me enjoy the finale at least..."
To Liana, every moment now felt like her last supper.
The endgame of her plan culminated in her own death.
Not some noble sacrifice for another's sake, like in heroic tales.
Liana had never once valued another's life over her own.
She never would.
Even so, she'd chosen death because it was the rational choice.
[Liana Lumenhark dies.]
Not that all humans must die someday.
She didn't know exactly when, but within the year at latest, Liana would die.
It wasn't some illness.
Her flawless body had never even caught a cold since birth.
The death Liana spoke of was a spiritual one.
—Throb.
As if sensing she was speaking of it, a searing pain stabbed through her mind like a heated blade churning her brain.
It's getting worse...
Liana grimaced.
Ordinary pain she could shrug off without a thought, but this was like the death throes of her fading personality.
It wasn't normal.
Her psyche should have eroded naturally amid endless murderous impulses and ennui, without time to even register pain.
But something unforeseen had happened.
Was it her excessively brilliant mind and instincts?
Or had her spirit proven sturdy enough to endure the impulses and tedium?
For whatever reason, Liana had realized the truth.
...That her body was merely a vessel for someone else.